Tractor umbrella



Oct. 23, 1956 I. SEARS, JR

' TRACTOR UMBRELLA Filed June 21, 1954 ATTORNEY L. WEIR SEARS. JR.

United States Patent TRACTOR UMBRELLA Isaac Weir Sears, Jr., Davenport,Iowa Application June 21, 1954, Serial No..438,117 3 Claims. (Cl.135-21) The present invention relates to improvements in that type ofconstruction known as a tractor umbrella. One purpose of this inventionis to suspend the umbrella from the top, in order to avoid hitting thehead of the user, as is common with umbrellas suspended from underneath,as shown by the patent to Ellis, No. 2,493,121, issued January 3, 1950.In this prior construction, the umbrella support must be extended farenough below the cover to permit said cover to close, which makes quitea little space below the umbrella top and, additionally, the drivershead is struck by the horizontal support, unless the umbrella top israised considerably. With my present construction, there is very littleprojection below the top to interfere with the head of the driver. Thesupport is bent outwardly beyond the edge of the cover to permit theumbrella to close without mutual interference between the cover and thesupport. Further, this has a new stay construction which will bedescribed in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings annexed hereto and hereof,

Fig. 1 shows the umbrella opened and detached from the mounting;

Fig. 2 shows the umbrella closed and the stays in closed position;

Fig. 3 shows a top view of the center suspension;

Fig. 4 shows the underside of one stay to indicate how it is collapsed;

Fig. 5 shows a side view of the structure shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a partial section of a central portion of a modified supportfor the umbrella; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the support shown in Fig. 6, takensubstantially along the plane indicated by the line 77 in Fig. 6.

Reference will now be made in greater detail to the annexed drawings fora more complete description of this invention. The umbrella support 1curves outwardly, upwardly, and inwardly, as shown at 2, to bring thecover or top 11 back far enough to shade the operator. The umbrellasupport 1 has at its free terminal upper end a fastening means 3carrying a ball-and-socket joint 4 whereby the cover may be tilted toany desired angle to give the operator the protection needed, and it isheld in tilted position by tightening the nut 5 which clamps the ballbetween the plates of the socket.

Extending downwardly from the socket joint 4 is a tubular or hollow stem6 to which the ribs 7 and the stays 8 are pivotally connected. The staysare in two pieces, and are either slidably connected or pivotallyconnected. If they are slidably connected, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5,there is a spring-pressed latch 9 which engages in a relatively slidablepart 8a to prevent sliding thereof, and thus prevent collapsing of theumbrella. If the stays 8 are made up of foldable parts, it will benecessary to provide a holding latch which may be one forming a part ofseveral kinds. Sleeves 10 are secured on the ribs 7 and are not slidablewith the stays 8 and 8a.

Having adjusted the position of the umbrella and tightened theball-and-socket joint 4 by tightening the nut 5, the ribs 7 are spreadout and the latches secure the stays 8 and 8a against relative slidingmotion which will hold the umbrella against collapsing.

The spring-pressed latch 9 keeps the umbrella from turning inside-out ina strong wind.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is shown a modified construction of the stem 6. Inreality, this is the preferred construction and is referred to as 6a. Tothe lower end of this stem is secured a bracket 14, to which the innerends of the stays 8 are pivotally secured. Tothe upper end of the stern6a is rigidly secured a bracket 12. Above the bracket 12 is mounted agrommet 13 to which the top 11 is secured. This is held in place by aflange 15 which may be tightened in place to hold the grommet 13 andother parts secured. 1

The ball 4 and stem 6a, together, form a unit which will now bedescribed in detail. To the outside of the stem 6a are secured thebrackets 12 and 14, on which the ribs 7 and stays 8 are pivoted. Thestem 6a, throughout the major portion of its length, is bored or tubularand, throughout the remainder of its length 17 is formed an angular ornon-circular opening, preferably hexagonal. The plug 18 of ball 4 isshaped to fit in the hexagonal opening in the end 17 of the stem 6a, andit is drilled and tapped to receive the end 19 of the securing member orbolt 16. At its lower end, the stem 61: receives abutting means in theform of a washer 20, and a nut 21 the former which slips onto the boltand abuts the bottom of the stem and the latter of which is screwed onthe bolt 16 and holds the ball assembly in place as one form of meansfor drawing the plug 18 downwardly and securely into the stem 6a.

It is of course understood that the specific structure set forth abovemay be deviated from without departing from the spirit of this inventionas disclosed and as defined by the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A structure of the class described, comprising: a generally uprightsupport having a lateral extension terminating in a free oifset end;clampable socket means on said end; an upright tubular stem disposedcoaxially below the socket means and having at its upper end an axiallydirected non-circular opening; a ball received in the socket means, saidball having rigidly depending therefrom a coaxial non-circular plugfitting the aforesaid non-circular opening in the stem; means passedupwardly through the stem and engaging the plug and further engaging thelower end of the stem to draw downwardly on the plug as respects thestem for securing the plug and ball in place on the stem;umbrella-supporting ribs attached to the exterior of the stem andradiating therefrom to free outer ends lying on a circle concentric withthe stem; an umbrella concentric with the stem and supported on the ribsand having peripheral portions connected to the free outer ends of theribs; and generally radial stays connected between the stem and ribs.

2. A structure of the class described, comprising: a generally uprightsupport having a lateral extension ter minating in a free ofiset end;clampable socket means on said end; an upright tubular stem disposedcoaxially below the socket means and having at its upper end an axiallydirected non-circular opening; a ball received in the socket means, saidball having rigidly depending therefrom a coaxial non-circular plugfitting the aforesaid non-circular opening in the stern, said stemhaving a coaxial downwardly opening tapped bore; a securing memherpassed upwardly through the stem and having a threaded upper endreceived in said bore and having a lower threaded end just below thelower end of the stem; abutting means on the lower end of- 'theseeuring'member and engaging the lower endof the stern, said abuttingmeansrincluding a nut threaded on the lower threaded end of the securingmember and operative to draw downwardly on the plug via said member tohold the plug in place in the stem; umbrella-supporting ribs attached tothe exterior of the stem and radiating therefrom to free outer endslying on a circle concentric with the stem; an umbrella concentric withthe stem and supported onthe ribs and havingperipheral portionsconnected to the free outer ends of the ribs; and generally radialstaysconnected between the-stem and ribs.

4 3. The invention defined in claim 2, in which: each stay comprisesrelatively movable parts capable of lengthening and shortening the stay;and latch means on each stay latching the respective stay parts togetherand against shortening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS200,945 Smith Mar. 5, 1878 507,809 Grove et al. Oct. 31, 1893 540,098Grove et a1 May 28, 1895 896,308 MacCready Aug. 18, 1908

